BPSW Education Program looks at the ever-changing nature of the sculpture park

The ephemeral nature of art and beauty is an important theme of Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild's 2018 education program, according to BPSW Education Officer Hannah Demma.

Demma, who guides children from small Montana communities on interactive tours of Sculpture in the Wild, meets school groups at the Lincoln Ranger Station, where rangers begin the program with a presentation.

"This year we're doing bear safety. They've been playing a game with them, and it kind of helps the kids get their wiggles out. They've been riding on the bus for an hour or more, so it's good to kind of get them running around," said Demma. "Then, I give a presentation on sculpture in general and...introduce some vocabulary that we can use at the park. We talk about environmental sculpture, ephemeral, what is land art, abstract versus representational, and different materials and techniques that artists use in sculpture."

Demma then guides kids on a tour of the park, followed by a hands-on activity in which kids can contribute their own works of art to the park landscape.

"It's not a new concept at the park, to have kids just kind of using what they have available to them, but kids are always really engaged in it, so it's pretty easy to knock it out of the park with that," Demma said. "This year, I added a bit of an element of manipulating the material in different ways, because we talk about what artists do to the materials to make their sculptures."

Demma's students are using egg tempera paints to paint sticks and pine cones in bright colors to include in the sculptures they are making.

"It's kind of another way to emphasize this idea of the ephemeral – after a couple of rains, the colors are all just going to disappear," she said, "which always makes them really sad. So, we kind of talk about that feeling and about why an artist would want to make something that's going to disappear and not be lasting so long. We get some really good conversations going."

"I love the education program and that the kids are so engaged with it," said BPSW President Becky Garland.

In two full weeks, the program will have hosted around 300 kids from communities such as Drummond, Swan Lake, Vaughan, Bynum and Choteau.

"It's a pretty special experience to get on the bus and come see this amazing park," Demma said. "They're kind of on a two-year cycle, so a lot of the schools that came last year will come next year, and that way it's not the same tour and basically the same program for them every year. It's nice that they get some turnaround and can see how the sculptures change."

The change wrought by time and elements on the sculptures and surrounding environment is part of the allure of returning to Sculpture in the Wild time after time.

"I think it's kind of an ongoing theme," Demma said. "Since they do come to the park in two-year cycles, I've been trying to get them to look at the pieces and see how they're changing over time, and to notice those small differences. For the Lincoln kids, this is kind of their back yard, so it's been a really good challenge, to say 'hey, what's changed? What does it look like in the winter? You get to see all these different times, all these different changes.'"

This is Demma's first year as guide of the program, which is in its second week. Last year she worked as a volunteer on Jaako Pernu and Patrick Daugherty's installations and caught a glimpse of 2017's education program in action.

"I do think that finding a theme - like emphasizing change- and having them spend time in the park gets them really invested in it...finding these things that have changed about the pieces is exciting," Demma said of keeping kids interested in the park year after year. "I think sometimes with kids you have to point it out a little bit and get them talking and thinking about it. But I'm noticing the Lincoln kids...are still just super engaged and just as excited about it, so it gives me hope that this will remain fresh."

"I like what she has to say," Education Program Chair Annette Gardner said of Demma, "[she has a] wonderful, fresh outlook."

"I'm so in love with Montana," said Demma, an art student who graduated in December from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and whose extended family resides here. "We've been visiting since I was a kid...when this sculpture park started popping up, I e-mailed the director."

Demma said she studied print-making and drawing in college but has a love of sculpture. After submitting her references to Creative Director Kevin O'Dwyer and volunteering during last year's residency, she was offered the paid internship as this year's Education Officer.

"This has been such a good experience for me, just to hear the way the kids are seeing the pieces," said Demma. "Their questions have been incredible, and I hope that I wasn't underestimating them when I first began, but I'm insanely impressed with what they see and how the observe the world and these sculptures. It's pretty rad."